It happened on September 5th, 2020 after a table tennis match at the TSV Bassum championships:
Ingo Schmidt, a 58-year-old passionate amateur athlete, was resting on a bench after a strenuous rally when he suddenly collapsed and was only saved from sudden cardiac death by several fortunate circumstances:
His 13-year-old son immediately recognized the life-threatening situation and called out loudly for help, whereupon the sports friends present rushed over and began performing cardiac massage, simultaneously alerting the emergency doctor and, after a short search, fetching a defibrillator installed on the sports facility. These first minutes of resuscitation and the delivery of a shock with the defibrillator saved Ingo Schmidt's life.
He is now back home after a bypass operation for his heart attack and a subsequent rehabilitation stay, and is even aiming to pick up a table tennis bat again. He still thinks with gratitude of the first responders who saved him from sudden cardiac death with their courageous and prudent intervention. And of course he also thinks of this little device, the defibrillator, which has helped to coordinate his life-threatening cardiac arrhythmia again.
Those responsible at TSV Bassum would like every sports hall to be equipped with a defibrillator and for the location to be optimally signposted.
